


Royalty

by wastefulreverie



Series: PhannieMay Shots 2018 [16]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Action, Adventure, Gen, Ghost King Danny, Ghost Zone, GhostKing!Danny, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 00:11:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17233775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wastefulreverie/pseuds/wastefulreverie
Summary: Curious about decrease of ghost activity in Amity Park, Maddie captures the Box Ghost and forces him to lead her to the new Ghost King.





	Royalty

There was something different in Amity Park and Maddie Fenton was going to get to the bottom of it.

It had only become noticeable recently, but the frequency of ghost attacks had decreased. All of a sudden, there were less and less threatening ghosts coming into the town to wreak havoc. Overall, that was a good thing, and Maddie couldn't really complain, she just couldn't figure out _why_ there were less ghosts. She was afraid it was some sort of indication that something bad was about to happen in the human world, so the ghosts had fled for self-preservation. It was a phenomena observed in animals in moments before natural disasters, like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, so who said the same thing couldn't be said about ghosts?

So, with professional interest, Maddie embarked on her investigation to divulge information from the ghosts who still lingered around town. Her first target was a well-known specter with too much ego and loose lips when provided with the correct threats.

“I AM THE BOX GHOST!”

Maddie aimed her blaster, allowing it to audibly charge up as a warning. She wasn't intended to actually shoot him, but wanted to give off the impression that she was. After all, she needed this specimen for information. And as expected, the ghost immediately grew silent upon noticing her weapon, subjecting to her will.

“Tell me why I shouldn't shoot you right here, ghost,” she spat venomously. In an interrogation, it was always important to clarify who was in charge.

The ghost's expression wavered, but he still attempted to maintain superiority. “YOU CANNOT SHOOT THE _BOX GHOST_! Beware!”

“Wanna bet?” Maddie shot her weapon slightly to the left of the ghost, causing him to yelp in fear. Before he could flee, she grabbed a pair of ectocuffs from her belt and put one around her wrist, and the other on the ghost's. He couldn't escape her now.

“What're you-”

“I need information,” she told him. “And I won't let you go until you give me all that I need. If you don't tell me anything, I'll shoot you. Deal?”

“You can't do that!” the Box Ghost declared.

“ _Right_. It's not like you're already handcuffed to me.”

The ghost sputtered indignantly before finally surrendering. Or, at least the Box Ghost's version of surrendering. “Fine! I will burden you with my fearsome knowledge that you beg for!”

Maddie narrowed her eyes, “Why have there been less ghosts in the human world?”

“Uhh... what?” he asked.

“For the past three weeks or so there has been a noticeable lack of ghosts attack Amity Park. You're a ghost, you tell me why.”

“Well...” the ghost stalled, “I'm still in the human world, so maybe I don't _know_ why.”

Maddie frowned and moved her blaster closer to the Box Ghost's torso. “I can still shoot you since you're not telling me the truth.”

“That is the truth. Please don't hurt me, y – your grace,” he whimpered.

“My what?” Maddie asked.

“Nothing!” The Box Ghost said, eyes widening with panic.

“Tell me, _now_ ,” she hissed. She made sure to make a show of putting her finger around the trigger. He would crack any moment now.

“Fine! Fine.... The new Ghost King has decreed that harming Amity Park is forbidden.”

“New Ghost King?” Maddie asked. “Why is there a new king?”

“Well the old one was defeated, so there obviously has to be a new one. Will you let me go now? Please?”

“No,” she said. “Why did this new king decide the human world is off limits? Don't most ghosts want to invade us?”

“The King isn't most ghosts,” the Box Ghost said solemnly. “He's hardly even a ghost.... It's a wonder how he's qualified.”

“You're avoiding my question, do you know why he wants to keep ghosts out of Amity Park? Is there any ulterior motive?” she stressed the last part.

“The king empathizes more with humans than ghosts,” Box Ghost answered with disdain. “It makes him a lame ruler because all he wants to do is make sure we stay in the Ghost Zone. It's not fair since he...” he froze, as if remembering something important. “Nevermind.”

Maddie wondered what sort of ghost would empathize more with humans than with it's own kind, and was suddenly very intrigued, if what the Box Ghost was telling her was accurate. She had never heard of a ghost that just wanted humans to be safe _from_ ghosts. She couldn't help but speculate why a ghost like that would be chosen as king. As she thought more, she was unable to stop her curiosity from growing, as her mind was filled to the brim with more and more questions. Hastily, Maddie pondered some of her queries for a moment before turning back to the Box Ghost with resigned decision.

“I want you to take me to the king,” she resolved.

“You... want me to what?”

“Take me to the Ghost King. I want to speak with him.”

“I – I don't think... know, uh, he's not in his throne room all the time, so I wouldn't know where to find...”

“Then let me wait in the throne room until he arrives,” she offered.

“It's not that simple-”

“It sounds like it. I'll remind you that we're handcuffed together, I'm armed, and you don't exactly have a choice.”

“I, the Box Ghost, will not-”

This time she slid her blaster against his head, “Yes, you will.”

He squeaked in fear. “Are we going right now? Or – or later?”

She only glared in response.

* * *

 

Maddie had never been to the Ghost Zone before, outside of her experience with the previous Ghost King, of course. To be frank, she hadn't expected it to be so... complex. She and Jack had imagined it being somewhat barren and empty, but instead, it was full of color, movement, and strange floating doors. She was tempted to keep asking the Box Ghost questions, but after passing through the portal, he seemed sort of... irritated. She marked it down to the fact that he was irritated that he had to bring her to the Ghost King.

Judging by how frequently he disobeyed the rules, Maddie had gathered that the Box Ghost wasn't very fond of the new king.

He brought her to a place he called 'Pariah's Keep', which she assumed was the king's palace. The exterior of the ghostly landmark was guarded by an array of armored skeletons, which she had believed to be props until one of them had actually moved when she looked at it. She was still handcuffed to the Box Ghost, so when she jumped, it pulled roughly on his arm. However, he kept his composure and didn't give any indication that she had almost ripped his arm off with her frantic movements. Instead, he floated the pair of them down to the entrance to the palace, landing firmly in front of the guards.

One of the skeletons uttered a strand of gibberish she couldn't decipher, and the Box Ghost replied in the same nonsensical language. They continued back and forth for a few moments, before the skeletal guard turned away from the cuffed duo, and receded inside the palace. Confused, Maddie turned to the Box Ghost.

“What just happened?”

The Box Ghost shifted, quickly switching back to English. “He won't let us in unless the king approves to have an audience with you,” the Box Ghost replied. “Right now he's asking if we should be let inside.”

“Oh,” Maddie said. “Do you think he'll speak to me?”

“Hell, if I know,” the Box Ghost shrugged.

“That's helpful,” Maddie groaned.

The stood outside of Pariah's Keep awkwardly, ignoring the vacant eyes of the other skeleton guards as they waited for the return of the first guard. After about five minutes, the aforementioned skeleton became visible in front of them and barked a demand at the Box Ghost.

“He says the Ghost King agrees to see you, only if you're unarmed, and that you let me go free,” the Box Ghost translated.

“What?” she cried, outraged. “I have a right to have weapons, especially since all you ghosts are naturally armed and I'm at a disadvantage.”

“Those are his only conditions for you to speak to him,” he reminded.

Maddie grumbled angrily, but eventually took the handcuffs off the Box Ghost, unclasped her weapons belt, and set her blaster on the ground. She suddenly felt naked without the security of her equipment.

She didn't have time to register his departure, but as soon as he was free from his bondage to Maddie, the Box Ghost shot into the air, decisively staying as far away from her as possible. Maddie helplessly called for him to come back, because she needed a translator, but it was too late. She just hoped that the Ghost King spoke English, because otherwise it would be a pretty dead-ended meeting.

The skeleton guard nodded at Maddie, and gestured for her to follow him into the palace. She was uncomfortable with it, but hesitantly followed.

Maddie's first impression of the throne room was that it wasn't particularly remarkable. Almost all of her vision was clouded with an unattractive, dull purple, and the ceiling had to be at least thirty-feet high. The only visible sources of light were the green torches that adorned the wall, creating ominous shadows. Other than that, there was nothing outlandish to behold, with the exception of the king's throne itself. It was made out of strikingly luminous marble and had realistic human skulls sculpted into the parallel armrests. What caught Maddie's attention, however, was the strikingly small figure perched atop the gigantic throne.

She instantly felt foolish and betrayed. The Box Ghost had failed to mention that the new Ghost King was Phantom, Amity Park's very own ghost-boy and alleged 'hero'.

Phantom sat on the throne rigidly, and Maddie discerned that his body-language was screaming in discomfort. He wasn't wearing his usual costume, yet he was still as recognizable. Instead of his normal, flimsy, skin-tight jumpsuit, he wore a more practical version with a more leathery material. It was slightly more bulky on him, but still complimented his thin figure, while giving him a more armored visage. His pristine white gloves had been replaced with chunky metal gauntlets, adorned with an elegant, glowing green ring. Phantom also wore a pure black shawl, which appeared at least two sizes too big for him, but it gave him a more sophisticated appeal. They were hard to see, but there were miniature green skulls that accessorized the collar of the shawl. Most dramatically about his updated outfit was the fiery crown hovering about his hair, brazenly flickering in the form of ectoplasmic fire.

As soon as she found herself in front of him, the skeleton guard pushed her to the floor, and hissed a violent command that she couldn't understand.

“That won't be necessary, Kilgore,” Phantom said, glancing at Maddie worriedly. He quickly switched to the ghost language and spouted off a few more words to the guard, Kilgore, dismissing him. Once the guard had left, he looked back at Maddie with sympathy, “Sorry he did that. The skeletons aren't really the best when it comes to my guests.”

Maddie suspiciously narrowed her eyes, “ _You're_ the Ghost King. You, _Phantom_. Is this some sort of joke?”

Phantom, who had oddly relaxed once his guard had left, snorted. “You tell me. I didn't want this stupid job in the first place. But unfortunately for both of us, I _am_ the king.” He moved around in his throne, looking more and more like a kid.

Once again, she was confused. “You mean, you don't want to be king?”

She had believed that Phantom was just some power-hungry, attention craving ghost who lead Amity Park to believe he was a hero so he could constantly be in the spotlight. Not to mention, he got to show other ghosts who was more powerful. If that were true, he would love being king. But according to what he had said, he thought the opposite.

Could it be that... he actually cared about Amity Park? She remembered what the Box Ghost had said earlier about the king, that he empathized more with humans than with ghosts. Could Phantom have really been trying to be their hero, and she had just assumed otherwise? She didn't like having to reevaluate everything she thought she knew about Phantom.

“I hate it,” he said nonchalantly, confirming her inquiry. He rolled his hand over, boredly staring at the glowing ring on his finger. “Anyway, Kilgore said you requested to speak with me, so what did you want to talk about?”

“I...” she lost track of what she had been planning to say. After a few seconds, she got over her disorientation and resolved on what she wanted to say. “Why did you command the ghosts to stay out of Amity Park? Why do you care so much about humans, when you're a ghost?”

“Well, I mean, just because I'm a ghost doesn't mean that I automatically hate humans. I was human too, you know,” Phantom said. Maddie frowned, it was an unpleasant reminder that the boy in front of her had once been a normal boy before dying so young. “Just being a ghost doesn't give me, or anyone, the right to hurt people, especially people who are still alive. That's why I've always protected Amity, because saving people is the right thing to do.”

Maddie was actually blown away by Phantom's complex thinking. She had pegged most ghosts as selfish creatures, but... from what he was saying, he actually did care about other entities. That, and he had apparently retained some set of morals from when he was human, and recognized what was right and what was wrong.

She had thought that ghosts were unable to control their evil natures, but what if all the evil ghosts she had encountered up until now were selectively evil? What was the natural state of ghosts, and how did Phantom fit into it? He was an enigma, unlike anything else she had seen before, and the more she spoke with him, the more questions she had.

“But... if you can prevent ghosts from going to Amity Park, why do you not like being king?” she asked.

She was afraid that the young ghost would get offended, but to her relief, all he did was frown. “Well, I'm not really the type to be a king. I can't really lead, give orders, I don't like strategy, and my only notable skills are limited to fighting. I'm not royalty, and I'm just some kid. Besides, this job is _way_ too much of an obligation and I have enough responsibilities as it is. Not to mention, I'm only partially qualified, but I guess since I beat up the last king, they didn't have anyone else to replace him. So now I'm stuck with this,” he shrugged, gesturing to the throne and his crown. “I'd let someone else do it, but I'm too afraid they'll end up trying to invade Amity Park like Pariah, so for now, I guess I have to.”

He was not only selfless, but also recognized his own flaws and didn't care for the ultimate power in his hands. Which made him more an even righteous king, she supposed. So maybe, whoever chose him to be king, knew what they were doing. As a ghost, he possessed anomalous features that were ideal for royalty, even if he'd have to grow into the role a little bit.

Maybe, she had misjudged him.

 


End file.
